Slub catcher



March 24, 1970 s. L. ABBOTT SLUB CATGHER s Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 27,1968 a an i y March 24, 1970 s. 1.. ABBOTT SLUB CATCHER Filed May 27.1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 24-, 1970 s, ABBOTT I 350K820 SLUB CATCHERFiled May 27, 1968 I 3 Shets-Sheet s United States Patent US. CI. 28-6416 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In a machine for winding yarn, slubcatchers for the one or more winding units embodied therein, each slubcatcher being characterized in that it is adjustable for yarns ofdifferent size, and means for automatically, simultaneously orsuccessively adjusting the several slub catchers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The slub catcher herein illustrated is ofthe kind shown in Patent No. 3,304,016, dated Feb. 14, 1967, and PatentNo. 3,254,388, dated June 7, 1966, and has a pair of confronting blockswith a portion of one block out back so as to provide a yarn passagebetween the two. The block containing the cut-back surface isreplaceable so that by stocking blocks with different depth cut-back andby substituting one block for another the device may be adjusted foryarns of different diameter. The objects of this invention are toprovide a slub catcher which can be adjusted for yarns of different sizewithout replacement of any of its component parts; and to provide foradjustment of a plurality of slub catchers at the same time as whenthere are a number of winding heads on a stationary winder orsuccessively when where are a number of Winding heads on a travellingwinder. Other objects are to provide a slub catcher in which the widthof the yarn passage may be maintained with a high degree of accuracy; toprovide a yarn passage which is designed to retain the running yarn; andto provide means for effecting adjustment of the width of the yarnpassage with a minimum amount of manipulation.

SUMMARY As herein illustrated, the slub catcher comprises members havingconfronting surfaces, portions of which are spaced from each other andprovide a passage between them through which a yarn may be drawn, meanssupporting the members for relative movement in a directionsubstantially at right angles to the axis of the passage, and means foradjusting the spacing of the spaced portions of the members withouteffecting the relation of the slidably engaged portions with each otherfor yarns of different diameter. The members comprise fixed and movableparts having slidably engaged bearing surfaces. The fixed part has ayarn guiding surface coplanar with its bearing surface and the movablepart has a yarn guiding surface offset from its bearing surface. Themovable part embodies a flexible blade which carries the yarn guidingsurface thereon and a screw associated with the blade at a pointintermediate its ends operable by rotation to flex the blade and by suchflexing to move the yarn guiding surface thereon toward and from theyarn guiding surface on the fixed part. The screw is provided with anarm by which its operation is effected and on a stationary machine wherethere are several such winding units a shaft is provided by means ofwhich the several arms may be actuated simultaneously to effectadjustment of the slub catchers in unison. On a travelling winder thereis an adjustable cam set in the path along which the winding units moveat a position preceding 'ice the winding operation to effect automaticadjustment of the slub catcher as each head moves through said position.Optionally, instead of a shaft or cam for effecting this adjustment anelectrically or hydraulically operated device may be provided including,for example, servo means.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the slub catcher;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the slub catcher shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation, to much larger scale, taken on the line 44of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section taken to much larger scale on the line 55of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view showing the adjustable blade in elevation;

FIG. 7 is a perspective showing several units of a travelling winder,each provided with an adjustable slub catcher and an adjustable camdevice for effecting their adjustment as they move by the cam device;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view of a scale and means supporting the camdevice for adjustment;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary section of a scale and of servo means foreffecting adjustment of the cam;

FIG. 10 shows several winding units on a stationary winder, eachprovided with a slub catcher, an actuating arm and a common shaft foreffecting adjustment of the several slub catchers simultaneously;

FIG. 11 shows a scaleand a servo for effecting rotation of the shaft asthe indicator is moved along the scale;

FIG. 12 shows the slight toeing in of the movable yarn guiding surfacerelative to the fixed guiding surface by means of which the yarn passagenarrows from front to back;

FIG. 13 is a section like FIG. 5 of an alternative arrangement of theparts shown to somewhat smaller scale wherein the yarn passages divergefrom back to front;

FIG. 13a is a fragmentary view showing the blade recessed to increaseits flexibility;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary section similar to FIG. 13, modified to providea yarn passage, the sides of which are substantially parallel;

FIG. 15 is a modification of the structure shown in FIG. 13, wherein thefixed assembly is extended rearwardly through the apron to providegreater support for the movable assembly; and

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary side elevation of a winding machine providedwith a plurality of winding heads, only one of which is shown.

The invention to be described herein is equally useful in conjunctionwith winding machines in which the winding units are stationary as shownin Abbott, 2,277,574, or travelling as shown in Abbott, 2,266,726, andin particular to a winding machine provided with a Winding head of fixedor movable type embodying a spindle 1 for holding a yarn mass from whichyarn is to be unwound, a spindle 2 upon which the yarn is wound to forma package 3, and between the spindles a tension device 4, a slub catcher6, suitable guides 7 and a yarn traversing device 8. Such an arrangementis shown in Abbott, 2,623,265 and in this particular instance the headstravel continuously along a rail 9. In this machine the yarn travelsupwardly from the tensioning device over an inclined apron 10 on whichis mounted the slub catcher.

The slub catcher illustrated herein is mounted on the apron 10 which hasa vertical portion 12 and an inclined portion 14, the former mountingthe slub catcher and the latter leading upwardly therefrom to thetraversing device by means of which the yarn is laid onto the packagebeing wound.

The slub catcher is mounted on the vertical portion of the apron betweenvertically spaced blocks 16 and 18 (FIGS. 1, 3 and 4) and comprises afixed assembly 20 and a movable assembly 22, the latter being movableforwardly and rearwardly with respect to the vertical portion of theapron relative to the fixed assembly 20 for the purpose of clearing theyarn passage which will be described hereinafter.

The fixed assembly 20 is in the form of a generally rectangular block 24(FIG. 4) mounted between the blocks 16 and 18 and contains asubstantially rectangular cavity 26 which faces or confronts the movableassembly 22. In this cavity there are mounted a backing plate 28, aresilient cushion block 30 and a plurality of independently stackedblades 32 mounted one above the other in parallel contacting relation.

The movable assembly 22 comprises a block 33 (FIG. which extendsrearwardly from the forward side of the vertical portion of the apronthrough an opening 34 to the rear side thereof and a flexible blade 36mounted thereon with a spacer 38 between its rear end and the rear endof the block 33. The blade spacer and block are secured together byscrew 'bolts 40. The blade 36 (FIG. 6) has a relatively narrow portion36a rearwardly of the vertical portion of the apron and a wider portion36b forwardly of the apron, to the forward extremity of which isfastened a block 42, screw bolts 44 being provided for securing it tothe inner face of the blade 'in a position opposite the fixed assembly20. The upper and lower ends of the block 42 are flared at 42a toprovide entrance and exit spaces at the ends of the yarn passage 50.

The fixed and movable assemblies have slidably engaged bearing surfaces46 and 48 (FIG. 5) which are yieldably held in engagement with eachother as will appear hereinafter, and spaced yarn guiding surfaces 46aand 48a providing a yarn passage 50, these surfaces being constituted bya coplanar extension of the surface 46 and a set-back portion of thesurface 48. The surfaces 46 and 48 are carefully ground so as tomaintain dimensional stability of the distance between the yarn guidingsurfaces 46a, 48a and hence the width of the yarn passage. The yarnguiding surfaces 48, being constituted by the block 42 which is mountedat the forward end of the :blade 36, is movable forwardly and rearwardlyrelative to the yarn guiding surface 46a by flexing of the blade andthis is effected in a precise manner by a spindle 52 having a reducedbearing 54 rotatably supported in a hole 56 in the blade 36 and athreaded portion 58 screwed into a threaded hole 60 in the block 33. Byproperly positioning the spindle 52 with respect to the opposite ends ofthe blade a 2 to 1 ratio of bending can be achieved and by providing theblade with a narrower portion 36a at the rear side of the apron most ofthe bending takes place in this portion so that the movement of theblock 42 and hence the yarn guide surface 48a is on a long radius, asshown in FIG. 12. As shown the blade is designed to have a normalunflexed position parallel to the block 33 and to be moved toward theblock 33 by rotation of the spindle in a direction to narrow the yarnpassage. The spacer or shim 38 is approximately .035 inch thick, so thatif the blade to provide a setting of .015 inch will bend the blade from.035 to .015 or about .020 inch and this in proportion to the length ofthe blade amounts to approximately .002 inch within the yarn passagethus narrowing the yarn passage from front to back. This narrowing ofthe package from front to back has the important advantage of holdingthe yarn against the bottom of the passage while it is running throughwithout making the entrance thereto difficult.

Preferably the spindle 52 is centered about half the length of the bladeso that the maximum range of adjustment can be obtained within an arc ofabout 30 of movement of the arm and is rotatably supported in a bearingblock (FIG. 2) secured to the back side of the apron by screw bolts 72.The bearing bracket 70 contains a slot 74 through which the spindle 52extends and permits the spindle to move linearly in a directionperpendicular to the apron and hence movement of the movable assembly 22relative to the fixed assembly. A flexible arm 62 provided at one endwith a hook 64 engaged with an eye 66 fixed to the blade 36 and attachedat its other end to the bearing block 70, by means of a screw bolt 68,supports the movable assembly for the aforesaid movement. Rotation ofthe spindle 52 is provided for by an arm 76 (FIG. 3), one end of whichis bifurcated to receive the end of the spindle and is adjustablyclamped thereto by a screw bolt 78 threaded through the tines of thebifurcation.

The movable assembly 22 is yieldably supported against the fixedassembly 20 by spring means comprising a pair of arms 80 (FIGS. 1 and 2)bifurcated at one end for receiving a vertically mounted rod 82 and forclamping thereto by screw bolts 80a. The opposite ends of the arms 80extend through openings (FIG. 2) in the blade 36 and have at their endsspring-pressed conical-shaped nubs 84 engaged with recesses 86 in theblock 33. The rod 82 is supported by a bracket member 83 secured to theforward side of the apron, having at its upper and lower ends flanges 84containing openings for rotatably receiving the rod 82.

FIG. 13 shows an alternate structure in which the blade 36a is fasteneddirectly to the face of the block 33a without an intervening spacer.When constructed in this fashion the blade 36a is bent at 36c so that itdiverges from the block 33a and normally holds the block 42a spaced fromthe fixed assembly 20b. In this form rotation of the spindle 52a movesthe blade 36a toward the block 33a and since it grounds directly on theblock 33a it is not possible to damage the blade 36a by turning thespindle down too hard.

To provide for greater flexibility of the blade 36a it may be desirableto grind it back as shown in FIG. 13a to provide a relatively thinflexible portion 36d between the end which is secured to the block 33 1and the spindle 52a. Because of the bend in the blade 36a the block 42adiverges with respect to the fixed assembly in a direction from thebottom of the yarn passage toward the open mouth which is the reverse ofthe structure shown in FIG. 12. If desired, the block 42a may be groundon a bias to compensate for the bend in the blade as shown in FIG. 14.

With the multiplying factor mentioned above an angular movement of 30requires a A by 32 spindle 52 to obtain the desired closing. A greatermultiplying factor is possible by positioning the spindle ahead of theapron as shown in FIG. 15 and the spring means behind the apron.Advantageously this is achieved, as shown in FIG. 15, by extending thefixed assembly 20b through the apron 12b to the rear side, so that theentire movable assembly 22b has a long bearing surface on the fixedassembly 20b. A bracket and rod corresponding to the bracket 83 and rod52, but not shown, are mounted on the rear side of the apron forsupporting arms 80a corresponding to the arms 80, with their endsengaged with the movable assembly 22a yieldably to press it against thefixed assembly 20a. A bearing block corresponding to the block 70 ismounted on the front side of the apron so as to support the spindle 52a.

This arrangement, whereby there is a longer bearing surface between themovable and fixed assemblies is advantageous in that it is no longernecessary to grind back the entering and leaving portions of the movableassemblies. Originally such grinding back had to be done to preventsmall nubs larger than the yarn size from encountering the fixedright-hand assembly. This, however, resulted in loss of effectiveness ofthe top and bottom blades 32 of the fixed assembly. It would have beenbetter to have ground back the supporting member 24 of the fixedassembly but this lessened the length so much that the assemblies whenopened for cleaning tended to tip. With the longer bearing surfacesprovided as shown in these figures the support can be ground backwithout loss of the effect of any of the fingers.

The design of the slub catcher as thus described may be taken advantageof on stationary and travelling winding machines to effect adjustment ofthe slub catchers of a plurality of winding headson a stationary windingmachine, enabling adjustment of all of the slub catchers at the sametime and on a travelling winding machine adjustment of the slub catcherssuccessively as the winding heads move along the machine toward thewinding position.

FIG. diagrammatically shows a stationary winder with a plurality ofwinding heads 10a. As related above the arm 76 of each slub catcher isreleasably clamped to the distal end of the spindle 52, so that the arm76 of the several units may be rotated to a predetermined position ontheir rods with reference to a common shaft 90, having eccentrics 94 forengagement with the distal ends of the arms 76. An indicator arm 96secured to one end of the shaft 90 provides mechanical means forrotating the shaft in either direction to raise or lower the arms 76 andhence to increase or decrease the width of the yarn passages 50. Asuitable scale 98 may be employed in conjunction with the distal end ofthe indicator arm 96 to visibly indicate the adjustment desired foryarns of different diameter.

Optionally (FIG. 11), the indicator arm 98 may be connected to anelectric or hydraulic follower mechanism 100, operation of which iseffected by movement of the indicator along the scale to in turn effectrotation of the shaft 90.

A travelling winder is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 7 wherein anumber of winding units 10b travel along a predetermined path in thedirection of the arrow a. To effect automatic adjustment the arms 76 ofthe severalunits are rotated rearwardly to a position to engage a camdevice 102 mounted on the machine frame. The cam device comprises aslotted plate or its equivalent providing spaced parallel surfaces whichforms a slot 104 corresponding in width to the thickness of the arms 76and converging surfaces 106106 leading into the slot. The cam device ismounted on a track 108 (FIG. 8) for adjustment on the radius of the axisof the spindle 52 so as to prevent any binding between the arm and theslot 104. The converging surfaces 106106 will pick up the end of the armas it approaches and guide it into the slot 104 from a level eitherbelow or above the slot. A suitable scale 110 mounted adjacent the trackmay be employed to indicate the extent of movement of the cam devicenecessary to make an adjustment for yarn of a given diameter. The camdevice 102, shown in FIG. 8, may be grasped and moved along the scale toeffect adjustment. FIG. 9 shows one component 112 of a servomotor, agear 114 rotatable thereby and a gear sector 116 rotatable by the gear114 about a center coinciding with the axis of the spindle 52. The othercomponent of the servomotor (not shown) has on it an indicator 118movable along a scale 120, movement of the indicator being operable toeffect movement of the cam device.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents.

I claim:

1. A machine for processing yarn comprising a plurality of units, eachembodying means for unwinding yarn from a mass of yarn and rewinding itto form a package, including a yarn traversing device and a slubcatcher; characterized in that each slub catcher is adjustable for yarnsize and there is common means operable to effect adjustment of theseveral slub catchers.

2. A machine according to claim 1, comprising a scale bearing indicia'representing yarn sizes, an indicator movable along said scale, andmeans operable thereby to effect operation of said common means.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said common means comprises arod, a plurality of eccentrics on the rod, each slub catcher embodyingan adjustable arm associated with one of the eccentrics and operablethereby to effect adjustment of the slub catcher of which it is a part,and means for effecting rotation of the rod to adjust all of said slubcatchers simultaneously.

4. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the winding units arestationary and said common means comprising a cam shaft common to all ofthe units operable to effectadjustment of all of the slub catcherssimultaneous- 1y.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the winding units arecontinuously travelling and said common means'comprising a cam devicesituated in the path of movement of the units as they travel around themachine operable, as each unit passes it, to effect its adjustment.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said common means comprises acam device containing a slot, each slub catcher embodies an adjustablearm movable was the unit travels toward a 'winding position toward theslot, and means for guiding each arm into the slot to effect adjustmentof the slub catcher as it passes said cam device.

7. In a machine for processing yarn comprising one or more units, eachembodying means for unwinding yarn from a mass of yarn and rewinding itto form a package, including means for guiding the yarn through a slubcatcher, a slub catcher characterized in that it comprises membersproviding spaced parallel yarn guiding surfaces which form a yarnpassage, said members being relatively adjustable to increase ordecrease the distance between said yarn guiding surfaces and hence thewidth of the yarn passage, and means operable prior to winding to effectrelative movement of the members to provide a yarn passage correspondingin width to the size of the yarn being wound.

8. In a slub catcher, a yarn passage comprising members having spacedconfronting surfaces supported for relative movement relative to eachother to vary the width of the passage, and means mounting one of themembers for movement of its surface relative to the other on an arc suchthat movement of the surfaces toward each other narrows the passage fromfront to back.

9. In a slub catcher, a yarn passage comprising members having spacedconfronting surfaces, a flexible blade supporting one of said membersfor movement relative 'to the other, said blade being fixed at one endand bent intermediate its ends, and means forwardly of the bend operableto move the distal end of the blade and the mem ber supported therbyrelative to the other member.

10. A slub catcher according to claim 9, wherein the surafce of theblade supported member diverges from the surface of the other memberforming a yarn passage which is narrower at the back than at the front.

11. A slub catcher according to claim 9, wherein the portion of theblade forwardly of the bend diverges from 'the other member and thesurface of the member supported thereby is ground on a bias which is thereverse of the bias of the blade.

12. A slub catcher according to claim 9, wherein the blade is recessedat the obtuse side of the bend.

13. A- slub catcher according to claim 9, wherein the members havesubstantially coextensive, mutually engaged bearing surface-s yieldablysupported for movement linearly with respect to each other to displacethe confronting surfaces comprising the yarn passage to clear thepassage.

14. A slub catcher comprising fixed and movable members having spacedconfronting surfaces which form a yarn passage, said members beingsupported for relative movement to vary the width of the passage andmeans mounting one member for movement of its surface relative to theother comprising a long flexible blade supporting the movable member formovement relative to the fixed member, said blade being movable from aposition parallel to the fixed member, in which position the yarnguiding surface thereon is parallel to the yarn guiding surface of thefixed member to a position in which it slopes relative to the fixedmember, and in which position the yarn guiding surface also slopesrelative to the yarn guiding surface on the fixed member in a directionsuch that the yarn passage is narrower at the front than at the back.

15. A winding machine wherein a plurality of winding units travel alonga predetermined path and each unit embodies means for unwinding yarnfrom a mass of yarn and rewinding the yarn to form a package, said meansincluding a yarn traversing device and a slub catcher located betweenthe mass and the package, characterized in that the slub catchercom-prises members providing spaced parallel yarn guiding surfaces whichform a yarn passage, said members being adjustable to increase ordecrease the distance between the surfaces for yarns of differentdiameter and there is means on the winding frame situated adjacent thepath of movement of the winding units operable as each winding unitmoves by it to effect automatic adjustment of the slub catcher thereon.

16. Apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said means for effectingautomatic adjustment of the slub catchers is located at a point in saidpath preceding commencement of the winding operation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS LOUIS K. RIMRODT, PrimaryExaminer US. Cl. X.R. 242--36

